Twitter has said that it will agree to requests from users of the microblogging website who do not want their online behaviour to be tracked.

The microblogging site has officially signed up to the "Do Not Track" scheme, a standardised privacy initiative that has been backed by the US Federal Trade Commission, privacy advocates and Mozilla, the non-profit developer of the Firefox web browser.

"Do Not Track" allows users to block third-party cookies, which are used to gather information on their personal information and web activity. To opt into the service, users must select the "Do Not Track" feature in browsers that support it, such as Firefox and Google Chrome.

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In a support forum page explaining the adoption of DNT, Twitter warned that anyone who opts in would not be able to get "tailored suggestions" on their Twitter pages.

"When you turn on DNT in your browser, we stop collecting the information that allows us to tailor Twitter based on your recent visits to websites that have integrated our buttons or widgets," said Twitter.

"Specifically, we remove from your browser the unique cookie that links your browser to visits to websites in the Twitter ecosystem. We then cannot provide tailored suggestions for you."

Despite not calling for Twitter to support the feature, the FTC said that it was pleased with the site's decision.

"Twitter's use of 'Do Not Track' in its new feature is good news for Twitter users and a meaningful step toward broader adoption of a strong 'Do Not Track' system that will give consumers simple, comprehensive control over online tracking," said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. "Hopefully other companies will follow suit."

According to Mozilla, around 9% of Firefox users currently opt in to "Do Not Track", with the highest proportion of users living in the Netherlands, France and the United States.

Mozilla also welcomed Twitter's support for DNT, saying in a blog post that it is "... excited that Twitter now supports Do Not Track and global user adoption rates continue to increase, which signifies a big step forward for Do Not Track and the Web".

"We conducted a survey of more than 10,000 Firefox users representing 140 countries and we found some interesting results," Mozilla added.

"The survey showed that 49% of users surveyed believe their privacy is respected more when Do Not Track is enabled, as opposed to only 12% who feel that way without the setting."

Twitter has also updated its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to reflect the adoption of Do Not Track.

"One of the main changes we made to the Privacy Policy was that we noted the many ways you can set your preferences to limit, modify or remove the information we collect," a spokesperson said.